Slide sorting device



' 7, 5. J. ZAGEL 3,200,523

SLIDE SORTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 16, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 United StatesPatent 3,260,523 SLIDE SORTING DEVICE Samuel J. Zagel, Chicago, 11L,assignor to Compco Corporation, (lhieago, 111., a corporation oflllinois Filed Aug. 16, 1962, Ser. No. 217,4.tl4 1 Claim. (Cl. 40-4061)This invention relates to a slide sorting device, and, moreparticularly, to a translucent device permitting visual inspection andadvantageous arrangement of film transparencies.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel, light weight,easily handleable device for visually inspecting and arranging cameraslides. The inventive device is particularly advantageous in that novelmeans are provided for the sorting or arranging of the slides, i.e., thecollection thereof in a prescribed order. Although slide sorting deviceshave been known in the past, they have suffered from various drawbacks,including awkwardness of set-up and inadequate working and collectingsurfaces.

It can thus be seen that an important object of the invention is toprovide a device that overcomes the drawbacks characteristic of theprior art. In one aspect, the inventive device is advantageous since itprecludes kitchen table operation where valuable slides previously hadto be set down on a greasy or otherwise inadequate surface, therebydamaging or soiling th transparencies.

Another object of the invention is to provide a slide sorting devicewherein component parts are uniquely constructed and contoured so as tofacilitate their storage between usages.

Other objects and advantages of the invention may be seen in the detailsof construction and operation set down in this specification.

The invention is described in conjunction with the accompanying drawing,in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the inventive device in its set upcondition, i.e., ready for use;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the device seen in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 33of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG.3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the top portion of the device seen inFIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the device seen in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG.5;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the extremeright-hand portion of the structure seen in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 9 is an elevational view, partially broken away, showing thenesting of the two casing parts as they would be arranged for shipmentor storage.

In the illustration given, and with particular reference to FIG. 5, acasing generally designated 10 is seen to be equipped with a steppedupper surface generally designated 11. The stepped surface 11 can beseen clearly in FIG. 6 and it is intended that a plurality of slidetransparencies may be placed on the various steps 11a, 11b, etc. forviewing when the same are illuminated by means of a light bulb 12 (seeFIG. 2). For this purpose, the housing 10 is constructed of translucentmaterial such as polyvinyl chloride or other readily moldable plastics.

In the illustration given, the housing or casing 16 is molded withupstanding side walls 13 and with the lowermost step or surface 14extending horizontally (see FIG. 6 in particular). The surface 14 servesas a work surface for supporting slide transparencies before or afterice sorting, and the surface is interrupted as at 15 and 16 to providewells for the receipt of stacked slides. Each well 15 and 16 is longenough (i.e., having a dimension in the direction of the length of thestep surfaces 11a and 11b) to accommodate a slide. However, the widthdimension of the Wells 15 and 16 (i.e., the dimension w in FIG. 6) isshorter than the width of the slides, so that the slides are preventedfrom lying fiat in the bottom of the wells 15 and 16.

For example, slides are provided with dimensions 2" X 2". The lengthdimension of the wells 15 and 16, i.e., that designated 1 in FIG. 2, isslightly over over 2", while the dimension w is slightly under 2" forthis particular size of slide.

The housing 16) is equipped with a perimetric flange 17 which terminatesin a downwardly-extending lip as at 18 (see FIG. 6). Supporting thehousing 10 is a second housing 19 (see FIG. 6). The housing 19 is ingeneral similarly constructed to the housing 10. In the illustrationgiven, it will be seen that the stepped surfaces 25141, 2%, etc.provided in the large wall generally designated 2% of the housing 19 areslightly wider than their counterpart 11a, 11b, etc., in theillustration given, five stepped surfaces being provided in the housing1%, while four such stepped surfaces are provided in the housing 19. Inpractice, the surface 11 can be employed for transparencies 2" x 2",while merely by inverting the assent led device of 1 1G. 6, the largewall 2t? becomes the top wall and has stepped surfaces 29a, 2%, etc. forthe support of 2% X 2%" slide transparencies. As before, the housing 19is equipped with a side wall as at 21 (corresponding to the walls 13)and is equipped with a flat working surface 22 interrupted to providewells 23.

The housing 19 is equipped also with a perimetric flange 24 which isseen to be received within the perimetric construction at the bottom ofthe housing 10, i.e., confined by the perimetric flange 17 and thedepending lip 18. In the case of either housing, 10 or 19 as the casemay be, the working surfaces 14 and 22 are arranged to extendhorizontally when positioned uppermost and when the housings areinterrelated as seen in FIG. 6. In such case, the bottom walls 15a and16a, or 23a, as the case may be, are arranged parallel to the workingsurfaces 14 or 22, respectively.

Initially, or for storage, the housings 1d and 19 may be nested as seenin FIG. 9, wherein the flange 24 is still received within the supportprovided by the flange 17 and lip 13 of the housing 1d. To accommodatethe nesting seen in FIG. 9, the wells 23 are asymmetrically related tothe wells 15 and 16 (see FIG. 2). It will be appreciated, however, thatthe work surfaces 14 and 23 may be positioned in other portions of thehousings 10 and 19 than those shown, i.e., at an intermediate step or atthe uppermost step, and that the wells may be located centrally or inany other stepped position. However, the illustrated embodiment ispreferred, since the provision of the work surface 14, for example, asthe lowermost step makes it relatively easy for the slide user to slipthe transparencies off the surface into his hand.

Facilitating the erection of the device from the FIG. 9 to the FIG. 1configuration is the provision of a recess as at 18a in the dependinglip 18 (see FIG. 5). This facilitates the installation and removal of aC-shaped retainer clip 25 (see FIG. 8).

The two parts 10 and 19 are also secured along the rear edge by means ofa spring ring lock 26 (see FIG. 3). The lock 26, as seen in FIG. 4, isslit as at 26a and fits within a groove 27 provided in a circularportion 28 of the flange 17 and a corresponding circular portion 29 ofthe flange 24. The circular portions 28 and 29 accommodate the receiptof a light bulb socket 30 suitably equipped with a switch 31 and cord32. The socket 30 receives a conventional light bulb 33, which thereforecan be readily and economically replaced by the user.

' In the operation of the device, the unit may be packaged for shipmentas seen in FIG. 9. When it is desired to utilize thesorter for arrangingslide transparencies, the

"inner housing 19 is removed from its nested position as seen in FIG. 9and is disposed relative to the outer housing 10 as seen in FIG. 6,i.e., the flange 24 being received within and confined by the L-shapedflange made up of parts 17 and 18. If it is desired to sort smallersized transparencies, i.e., 2" x 2", the surface 11 is positioned uppermost and the work surface 14 is employed, with its wells 15 and 16. ,Thetwo unitsare firmly integrated in the FIG. 6 configuration through theuse of the retainer clip 25 as seen in FIG. 8 and the ring lock 26 asseen in FIG.3. The unit maybe positioned on any horizontal surfacewithout regard to grease, dirt, etc., since the erected unit rests uponthe'side wall edges 21. (see FIG. 6),. A plurality of slides may beinitially stacked on the work surface 14 and thereafter disposed singlyalong the steps 11a, 11b, etc., and then regrouped and deposited in thewells 15 and 16. As the wells 15 and 16 are filled, or as a givengrouping is achieved, these stacked and arranged slides may then berelocated to the work surface or shelf 14 for subsequent mounting in aprojector loader, feeder, etc.

If slides of larger dimension are employed, the same erection procedureis followed except that the housing 19 is positioned uppermost so thatthe surface 20 faces upwardly.

Through the construction presented, an extremely rugged, yet simple,housing is provided through the :cooperation of the side walls 13, thestepped top wall 11, and the sloping end walls 34 and 35 for the housing10. Each housing includes an angle of the order of about 12 between theperimetric flange 17 or 24 and the supporting edge of the side walls 13or 21, as the case may be. This results in the disposition of the upperstepped surfaces 11a, 111;, etc., being disposed at slightly over a 30angle to the horizontal. As indicated previously, the work surface isprovided in a horizontal plane and preferably is somewhat wider than thecorresponding dimension of the stepped surfaces. This protects againstinadvertent 'dislodgement of slides placed on the work surface.

While in the foregoing specification I have set down a detaileddescription of an embodiment of the invention for the purpose ofexplanation thereof, many variations in the details herein given may bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

I claim:

A slide sorting device, comprising a box-like frame presenting aplurality of upper, vertically-stepped translucent support surfaces, allof which but the lowermost surface being inclined to the horizontal, thelowermost surface being horizontally disposed, the Width of each of saidsupport surfaces approximating that ofa slide transparency to besupported thereon, a well in the said lowermost support surface andhaving a generally horizontal bottom wall, the width of said well beingless than the width of said surfaces, whereby a slide transparencyplaced, in said well is necessarily supported at an angle to. saidbottom wall, said lowermost surface being joined to the next adjacentsurface by a generally vertical wall adapted to serve as a support for aslide transparency placed in said Well, and meansfor illuminating theunder side of said surfaces.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 500,955 7/93 Rusk206-72 X 1,341,695 6/20 White 206-73 2,882,628 4/59 Fowle -10612,908,094 10/59 Mast 40-1061 3,018,575 1/62 Barre et a1. 40-63 3,023,5243/62 Muse 40-132 3,056,222 10/62 Boudouris 40-132 3,061,961 11/62 Cohen40-63 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,162,175 4/ 5 8 France.

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner.

